after dusk - draco malfoy

v. | five

          A FEW DAYS LATER I WAS aboard the Hogwarts Express, heading back to Hogwarts after what seemed like a lifetime. Tommy, Poppy, and Stella seemed a bit shaken up reading the Daily Prophet on the train to school. The front-page article was about the Dark Mark at the World Cup and the scratches on their faces showed me they had a bit of a more rough time getting out of the campsite.

          I hadn't been able to see my Aunt and Uncle after the incident as they had to go to work to help with the investigations on how it happened. I was just waiting for the conversation that I would be due to be having with them about relocating again. I was going to stand my grounds. Yes, I may only be nearly 15 and they have more say over what happens to me but I knew they would take my opinions into a count as well.

          "I just don't understand how the Ministry doesn't know who conjured it," Poppy spoke up, throwing the newspaper aside in frustration. "Wasn't there any security?"

          I swallowed the mouthful of pumpkin pasty I had bought from the trolley. "My Aunt and Uncle said there were loads," I replied, folding up the newspaper as it was strewn on the floor. "That's why the Ministry is so bothered about it. It happened right under their noses," I added on.

          Tommy folded his arms over his chest, still not having said a word since getting on the train. He looked very much on edge. Stella had asked him what was wrong but he just brushed it off as not getting much sleep.

          After a while, the two girls drifted off to sleep and as Tommy wasn't being a conversationalist as much, I was just left to my thoughts. As I was scanning Tommy's facial injuries, I started to worry about Draco. I had imagined that with his father being so prestige, they would've been one of the first to get to safety but something still worried me.

          Those kinds of thoughts kept swimming around my head before I stood up. "I'll be back in a bit," I muttered to Tommy, sliding the door to the compartment open and sliding it closed behind me. I wondered the train, trying to find Draco and his friends. I was preparing for the abuse to be hurled at me when I arrived there but none of that mattered to me, anymore. There were worse problems at hand.

          I found him after an encounter with Fred and George, telling me they had seen Pansy not too much further down the train so I followed in the direction they had pointed over to. Draco noticed me almost instantly and left his compartment to see me. "Hey," he said, smiling before sliding the door closed. "How are you? I've been worried about you ever since the World Cup."

          I scratched my head, slightly unsure about how to answer it. "I mean, I'm a little bit worried about the whole Dark Mark thing but Poppy, Stella, and Tommy had it worse," I explained to him. "I think they got a little beaten and trampled on in the escape. They're quite shaken up."

          He nodded his head in understanding. We fell in silence for a few moments before he opened his mouth to speak. "You can sit with us if you'd like," he offered, pointing his thumb in the direction of his compartment.

          I looked beyond him to see Crabbe, Goyle, Blaise, and Pansy - the usuals - sitting there. I looked back up at Draco, hope in his eyes. "I don't think I'd feel very welcome if I'm being honest, Draco," I admitted, the hope from his eyes quickly disappearing.

          He quickly shook the feeling and nodded his head. "Yeah, okay," he said before clearing his throat. "Well, I guess I'll just see you back in school," he added on before we both said a quick goodbye and I headed back to my compartment.

          It didn't seem like long before we arrived at the school's platform. Harry, Hermione, and Ron all met us on the platform and we made our way to the carriages, which pushed themselves to the school gates.

          When we arrived in school, I quickly dropped off my things by the Great Entrance and headed to the library, hoping Draco would've had the same idea. Just to my gut instincts, he was waiting outside the door for me. He pulled me into a tight hug, which we never got to do on the train and I revelled in every moment of it. He planted a kiss on the top of my head as he stroked my hair. "I've missed you so much, Tas," he told me.

          I pulled away from the embrace and looked up at him, noticing I was right about him growing a few inches taller over the summer. "I've missed you, too," I replied before standing up on my tiptoes and placing a peck on his lips.

          It had been a while since I had been able to do that and I was so excited and giddy about it. He took my hand and we sat in a corner of the library, despite nobody being in there, even Professor Pince. "So, did you do anything other than the World Cup this summer?" He asked me, making most of the time we had before we had to go into the Great Hall.

          I shook my head at him. "Not really," I replied. "I mean, I met up with Tommy, Stella, and Poppy in Diagon Alley and stayed at Ron's for a couple of weeks before the World Cup but other than that, no. What about you?"

          He shook his head as well. "Nothing of importance, really," he told me, thinking for a moment. "We've just got a few more peacocks for the manor."

          I paused for a few seconds to try and understand what he had just told me. "Peacocks?" I repeated, a little shocked. "I didn't know you had any peacocks."

          He nodded his head at me, totally unphased by how abnormal having peacocks as pets were. "We've got albino ones," he confirmed. The more I thought about it, the more it made sense.

          We stayed in the library for what seemed only a few moments and before we knew it, we had to head to the Great Hall in preparation for the sorting and the feast.